White rose commemorates Scott of the Antarctic

A single white rose is to be left at the Scott statue in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard to mark the centenary of Scott’s ill fated expedition to the South Pole on the 17th January 1912.

Adjacent to Porter’s Lodge in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, the statue of Robert Falcon Scott stands along with one of his trusty dogs.

Scott memorial - Portsmouth. Pic Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

It was sculpted by his widow, Lady Kathleen Scott, in 1915.

The statue came to be in Portsmouth following its commission by the then Commanding Officer of HMS Vernon as a tribute to the great explorer, with all the ship’s officers helping to fund the project.

The Grade II-listed bronze sculpture is inscribed with a moving extract found in his journal on his return from the South Pole

…the gale is howling about us, we are weak, writing is difficult but for my own sake I do not regret this journey, which has shown that Englishmen can endure hardships, help one another and meet death with as great a fortitude as ever in the past.

We took risks, we knew we took them.

Things have come out against us and therefore we have no cause for complaint but bow to the will of providence determined to do our best to the end.

The statue has been moved a number of times due to the changing nature of the naval base.

It originally stood in The Parade before being moved to outside Storehouse 11, now the National Museum of the Royal Navy.

One more move sees it now between the Mary Rose Museum and Porter’s Lodge, allowing the public to freely visit it.

Norwegian Flag

When the party of five, led by Scott, reached the Pole they found a Norwegian flag and a note from Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen stating that his party had reached the area a few days earlier on 14th December 1911.

Non of the Scott’s party returned.

A tent and bodies, along with the diaries and last letters of Scott, were found eight months later by a search party led by Dr. Atkinson.

Scott was posthumously awarded a Knight Commander of the Bath and Kathleen retained the rights and privileges of the rank. A campaign was launched to raise a memorial fund to continue with the scientific work Scott had been actively involved with and the Scott Polar Research Institute was founded.